Lalla Zaynab
Lalla Zaynab | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | c. 1850 |
| Died | 19 December 1904 |
| Religion | Islam |
| Nationality | Algerian |
| Parent | Muhammad bin Abi al-Qasim |
| School | Sufism |
| Muslim leader | |
| Predecessor | Muhammad bin Abi al-Qasim |
Lalla Zaynab (c. 1850 - 19 December 1904), was an Algerian Sufi Muslim spiritual leader. Regarded as a living saint by her followers, she fought a bitter battle over the succession of her father's barakah and Zawiya with her cousin Sa'id ibn Lakhdar which involved the French colonial administration. She would later build a friendship with Isabelle Eberhardt.
Early life
Lalla Zaynab was born in 1850, a daughter of Muhammad bin Abi al-Qasim, a religious figure in the Algerian area.[1] She was a Sufi Muslim,[2] and a member of a family who claimed to be direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad.[3]
Religious life
Zaynab was the chosen successor of her father,[4] she inherited his followers, barakah (spiritual force) and Zawiya (an Islamic religious school or monastery). However, this succession brought her into conflict with the French colonial administration when her cousin Sa'id ibn Lakhdar claimed that they were the correct inheritor and that he was owed two million francs.[5][6] She wrote to the authorities, dispelling Lakhdar's claims, and demonstrating an intimate knowledge of all of her father's financial dealings.[6]
While Zaynab acted as a protector of her father's former harem of wives, Lakhdar demanded that they travelled to Algiers to swear an oath that they knew nothing of the money owed.[6] Zaynab intervened and stated that the practice had no founding in either Islamic or French law, and instead offered her own oath on the tomb of a saintly tomb since the ex-wives were not party to the conflict.[7] However, the rivalry over the spiritual succession continued, with Zaynab taking refuge in her father's tomb. With others present, when she cried out for answers, a voice announced that it was Zaynab who should lead her father's former followers. After this occurred, her leadership was no longer questioned.[6]
French artist Charles de Galland witnessed Zaynab and her followers seven months after the death of her father. They treated her as a living saint, and the true inheritor of her father's barakah. She would continue to lead the followers for the next seven years, with the French forces admitting in 1899 that the Zawiya had prospered under her leadership. Pilgrims remained as high under her stewardship as they had under her father's, and she adopted some of her father's practises such as inducting new members herself. She travelled throughout the local area; shrines were created by the local people at each of the places she stopped to pray.[2]
Isabelle Eberhardt would make several trips from Algiers to El Hamel to visit Zaynab's Zawiya,[8] one among many Europeans who would visit her.[3] Eberhardt would later say that she felt "rejuvenated" each time she met with Zaynab, and formed a friendship that would concern the authorities.[9]
Death
Zaynab died of a prolonged disease on 19 November 1904.[where?] She was placed in a mausoleum alongside her father, with the tomb becoming a place of pilgrimage. While Lakhdar suspected that he may finally inherit, because of the lack of a will, the succession arguments continued for over a year, with the Zawiya going to another.[10]
Notes
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 6.
- ^ a b Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 244.
- ^ a b "Imperialism in North Africa: Letters, Lalla Zaynab". Women in World History. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 216.
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 218.
- ^ a b c d Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 242.
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 243.
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 246.
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 248.
- ^ Clancy-Smith 1994, p. 249.
References
Sources
- Clancy-Smith, Julie Ann (1994). Rebel and Saint : Muslim Notables, Populist Protest, Colonial Encounters (Algeria and Tunisia, 1800-1904). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52092-037-8.
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